LA TRAMPA
Written and directed by Manuel Saez Kifafi
CAST
Adolfo Olivier, Clara Torrijos, Sandra Gonzalez, Daniela Orlas, Luna Vasquez, Gabriela Bawarshi, Manuel Saez.
ORGINAL SCRIPT
Manuel Saez Kifafi
VENUE
Temprance Hall, Melbourne
LANGUAGE
Spanish with English subtitles.
MARKETING / DESIGN
Camila Fernandez
LIGHTS / ART
Rocio Lamana
CHOREOGRAPHY
Francisco Viteri
THE STORY
Three sisters have spent years building the perfect illusion. Using a secret system of coded knocks hidden in their own bodies, they have turned spiritual fraud into a carefully choreographed art form. They are convincing. They have never been caught.
Until the night they invite the wrong guests.
When two tightrope-walking twin brothers fall into an uncontrollable trance, something speaks through them that was never part of the script — voices from Latin American history, the disappeared, the silenced, the forgotten. A truth so large that the sisters' lies can no longer contain it.
La Trampa is a story about deception, memory and what happens when the past refuses to stay buried.
THE PRODUCTION
La Trampa was entirely self-funded. No grants. No institutional backing. Every element — venue, technical production, design, marketing, photography — was made possible through the collective commitment of the Smoko team and its community.
The show
Three sold-out nights at Temperance Hall. Each night, audiences stayed long after the show ended to speak and share what the play had stirred. To name things they had been carrying. That is the measure of the work.
The Process
La Trampa was entirely self-funded — no grants, no institutional backing. Every element, from venue to photography, was made possible through the collective commitment of the Smoko Theatre team and its community.
The production was developed over 20 weeks with the Smoko Theatre advanced ensemble — a diverse group of Hispanic migrant performers based in Melbourne. Their dedication, cultural authenticity and artistic rigour gave the work its emotional depth and resonance.
What emerged was not simply a cast, but a genuine artistic community — a testament to the power of independent migrant theatre in Australia.
